Three summer project ideas: Which one will you tackle?

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While it's not officially the summer season for another few days, my summer schedule began the day my kiddos celebrated the last day of school. So in short, my office hours have been sporadic at best and my list of books completed is growing -- sounds like a good life, huh?

I'll admit, it's been nice. But I also love my work so I'm happy to have some dedicated office days too while the boys enjoy their summer camps. If your schedule is anything like this, it's time to embrace it. These three summer-type projects that small business owners or non-profit leaders can adapt might give you a place to start if you're feeling like you need to check a few more boxes off your list during this typically slower season. By tackling one, or even a few of these projects, you'll feel like you've accomplished something big (because you have) and you might even be motivated to keep going.

Here are three great summer project ideas:

Organize your email list.

I've had emails on the brain because I'm designing a brand-new service that I'll begin offering this fall all about email marketing. Organizing your list doesn't have to be overwhelming. Start by exporting all of your emails into Excel and making sure you have as much data on each person as you can. Things like first name, last name, and category are the most important (think donor, volunteer, etc.). Once you have the list organized, you can begin to group your people into meaningful segments that can be communicated with in very unique ways. I recommend using a product like MailChimp to create one master list and then using the grouping tool they offer to avoid sending duplicate emails. Seem too complicated? At least get them organized and then check back with me in the fall to see if I can help you with the rest!

Refresh your website.

Have you taken some time to review your website lately? Have you checked on your analytics to see what your traffic numbers look like? Are your forms converting? Are people shopping on your site? What is your bounce rate? Take some time to dive into the data and then make adjustments to your website that align with your goals. Swap out photos. Check all the links. Spending even just an hour or two to update your site will go a long way!

Stock up on content.

Take advantage of volunteers who might have a little extra time to give this summer and put them to work on gathering content for newsletters, websites, social media, and any other project for which you're going to need words. Give them a framework for how to reach out to donors, volunteers, event attendees, members, customers, etc. and ask them to gather testimonials. People love stories and using stories in your marketing plan is one of the best ways to engage readers. Adapt longer stories to short snippets that can be used on social media. Add a testimonial or two to your website (as part of the refresh!), and stock up another few stories for that fall e-newsletter.

When you tackle one or all of these projects, you'll be making your life easier down the road. Pick one and dive in. So tell me...which one will it be?